Virginia Lt. Gov.-Elect Says She Won’t Say If She’s Vaccinated Because Then People Will ‘Want to Know What’s In My DNA’

Virginia’s next lieutenant governor Winsome Sears has an unusual reason for not sharing her vaccination status: she was worried about “slippery slopes” and said it would soon lead to people “want[ing] to know what’s in my DNA.”

Sears made the comments during an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash on State of the Union on Sunday, as part of a larger discussion about the Covid-19 vaccines.

Bash asked Sears about Virginia’s vaccine policies for public schools, noting that other vaccines like measles and polio, were required. “So why is it okay to mandate childhood vaccines in Virginia for so many diseases but not Covid?” asked Bash.

Sears replied that she wasn’t “saying yay or nay” on the vaccines, but questioned why people who had contracted Covid-19 needed to also get vaccinated.

“Ultimately we have to remember that we’re America,” said Sears. “We love our freedom. We love our liberty. People are dying to get into this country so that they can do well for themselves and their families. Let’s not make it like some other countries. Let’s let liberty shine.”

Bash responded to Sears’ comments about how people who had caught Covid had antibodies. “That is true,” she said, “but scientists don’t think that lasts forever and eventually they wane, just like the antibodies you get from your vaccine wanes, which is why people are getting boosters.”

The CNN host went back to her previous question about how there were already mandates for a number of other vaccines, and noted Sears’ statement that she wanted people to get vaccinated against Covid, but was Covid just becoming too political?

Sears replied that she was “not going to force anybody” to get a Covid vaccine, and mentioned comments from President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris before and after the 2020 election. “This is the problem,” she said. “It is all politicized.”

Bash mentioned again how Sears had encouraged people to get vaccinated, “but you’re not saying whether you are vaccinated.”

“Do you want to say now?” asked Bash.

Sears replied:

As I said, America, if it’s nothing else, it’s about liberty. It’s about being able to live your life free from the government telling you what to do. And so we understand this thing about slippery slopes. The minute that I start telling you about my vaccine status, we’re going to be down the bottom of the mountain trying to figure out how we got there, because now you want to know what’s in my DNA, you’re going to want to know this, that, and the other.

In New York, you see, we have people — waiters, waiters! — asking people their vaccination status, and by the way, do you know what else they require? A photo I.D. to determine if this vaccine card you’re presenting is really you. Who are we fooling? Come on. Let’s say you get the vaccine, go ahead and get the vaccine, if that’s what you want to do, get the vaccine. Don’t force it on anybody else.

Watch the video above, via CNN.